Combined dress shield and shoulder pad



Oct. 8, 1957 TYRQLER 2,808,589

I COMBINED DRESS SHIELD AND SHOULDER PAD Filed May 28. 1956 IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent COMBINED DRESS SHIELD AND SHOULDER PAD Else Tyroler, Cincinnati, Ohio Application May 28, 1956, Serial No. 587,553

1 Claim. (CI. 254) This invention relates to the shields which are used in womens dresses to protect the underarm areas from becoming soiled by perspiration. More specifically, the invention is directed to the combination of a dress shield and a shoulder pad for use in womens dresses, which shield and pad are interconnected in order to mutually support and hold one another in place.

The shoulder pads which are used in womens dresses are in most instances arranged so that they may be removed at the time the dresses are to be sent to the laundry or to the dry cleaner. Underarm shields are also arranged so that they can be removed for washing and this is done more frequently than the removal of the pads. In most cases, a shoulder pad is merely tacked in place by a few stitches which pass through the top of the pad and through the shoulder seam of the dress. This leaves the front and back edges of the pad free so that they often become doubled over when the dress is being put on to cause an unsightly bulge in the shoulder of the dress. To straighten out the pad under these circumstances is bothersome and at times requires the assistance of another person. A dress shield also tends to become displaced or to wrinkle unless it is securely fastened in place and a number of different ways have been suggested in the past to accomplish this.

In the present combination the shoulder pad and the shield are fastened together by means of thin elastic ribbons. Preferably, the upper ends of the ribbons are secured to the pad by means of snaps'or other removable fastenings, whereby the shield may be removed readily for washing without disturbing the pad. However, with the shield in the dress and secured to the pad it serves to retain the pad on top of the shoulder, and the attachment of the shield to the pad also serves to hold the shield in place under the arm. Hence, it may be seen that the primary objective of the invention is to provide a shoulder pad and an underarm shield which cooperate with one another to prevent displacement of either one.

Other objectives of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the drawings in which:

Figure l is a perspective view showing the pad and shield of this invention in place on a woman.

Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing the elements of the combination.

In the drawings a shoulder pad is indicated generally by the numeral and an underarm shield is indicated generally by the numeral 11. The pad 10, following conventional practices, is generally triangular and consists of cotton or other padding material which is enclosed in an envelope of rayon or other cloth material. The outer edge 12 of the pad is rounded whereas the front and back edges 13 and 14 are feathered so as to not show through the dress material. In the instance shown, the covering material for the pad is stitched along a center 2,808,589 Patented Oct. 8, 1957 hem line 15 which extends from the pointed inner end around the outer edge 12 and back to the pointed end. This hem is at the center line of the pad. The pad is adapted to be fastened into a dress by one or more tack stitches which pass through the hemline 15 and through the shoulder hem of the dress.

In the instance shown, the dress shield consists of two flaps which are stitched together along an arcuate line 16 which engages the armpit of the wearer. Preferably, the flaps consist of two thicknesses of material, the outer one designated 17 being made of an absorbent cloth material and the inner one designated 18 being made of a waterproof material such as plastic. The outer one of the two flaps preferably has a narrow elastic ribbon 19 stitched to it which may be engaged around the arm of the wearer as shown in Figure 1 to hold the outer one of the two flaps firmly against the underside of the wearers arm. The inner one of the two flaps may have an elastic loop 20 secured to its lower edge which may be pinned or otherwise fastened to a brassiere, a slip or other undergarment to hold the inner one of the two flaps against the side of the body of the wearer underneath the arm. Each one of the forward and rear ends of the underarm shield has a narrow elastic ribbon 21 stitched to it. The opposite end of each one of the two ribbons has one part 22 of a snap fastener stitched to it. The mating part 23 of the snap fastener is sewed to an outer corner of the shoulder pad where the rounded edge 12 meets the side edge. It may be seen from the drawings that the two elastic ribbons 21-21 in extending from the front and rear ends of the shield up to the front and rear corners of the shoulder pad encircle the wearers arm so that the edges of the pad are held firmly down against the wearers shoulder while the dress shield is held firmly against the underarm area of the wearer. In this way the two elements of the combination serve to hold one another in place. At the same time, however, the snap fasteners permit the dress shield to be removed readily for washing without disturbing the shoulder pad.

Having described my invention, I claim:

The combination comprising a shoulder pad and an underarm shield in which the pad and shield mutually support one another, said pad being configurated to conform to the wearers shoulder and including portions thereof which extend down at the front and at the rear of the shoulder, said shield including two flaps which are joined together along an arcuate line to fit the wearers underarm area, the outer one of the two flaps having a thin elastic ribbon attached at its forward and rear edges to provide a lop for encircling the wearers arm, a pair of thin elastic ribbons, one of said ribbons secured to the front end and one to the rear end of said shield at the respective ends of said arcuate line, and means at the upper ends of the thin elastic ribbons to secure said ribbons respectively to the said portions of the shoulder pad such that the ribbons are under tension to hold the shield firmly against the underarm area of the wearer and to hold the pad down firmly against the wearers shoulder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,497,843 Berle Feb. 21, 1950 2,654,888 Brightman Oct. 13, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 6,459 Great Britain of 1908 517,842 Great Britain Feb. 9, 1940 

